


a vision at the end of the world

by etheriasword (lightofthestars)



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, Post-Canon, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018) Season 5 Spoilers, glimmer and bow are there just a little im sorry, riffing off adora's future wish from the end of season 5
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-18
Updated: 2020-06-18
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:27:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24769264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lightofthestars/pseuds/etheriasword
Summary: For a brief moment, she's allowed herself towant.(Adora's wish, in five parts.)
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 150





	a vision at the end of the world

**Author's Note:**

> spoilers for season 5!

i.

When Adora opens her eyes again, she gasps.

She stares, uncomprehending, at her own face reflected back at her. Her hair is loose, spilling over her shoulders, held back from her face by a shining circlet. Her dress is gorgeous. She can feel the touch of a breeze against her bare skin, through its open back.

She must be dreaming, she thinks. Gone is the Heart of Etheria — the sickly green glow of Horde Prime’s virus, the crackling of lighting, the hail of crumbling stones. It’s all gone, but the phantom feeling of Catra’s arms clutching desperately to her torso lingers.

It’s still bright. But not so sharply, now. Now, the light that bathes the room is warm, tinged with gold.

And when Glimmer and Catra burst into the room, looking at once familiar and unfamiliar, she can’t stop her heart from lifting at the same time that the pit of her stomach fills with dread. It’s not real, a small voice in her head whispers. There’s no _time_. She has to wake up.

It’s not real, she tells herself, even as Bow saunters in with a smile on his face.

It’s not real, she screams in her mind, even as Catra turns, holding out her hand. Even as she reaches out, in spite of herself.

And of course, of course, the scene splinters away, replaced by Horde Prime’s leering visage. And she knows that it’s not real, that it can never be real, that all of Etheria hangs on this fact:

Adora is never going to be allowed to have a future.

But for a brief moment, she’s allowed herself to _want_.

It’s a beautiful wish.

ii.

In the end, it’s Catra who saves her.

Catra, who takes the leap to meet her where she lies, who talks her back from the edge of death, who unlocks Adora’s heart by finally throwing open her own.

She-Ra saves the world, but Catra’s the one who saves Adora.

Maybe she shouldn’t be surprised. It was always going to be Catra, for her.

iii.

“Do you ever think about what happened at the Heart?” Adora asks one day, weeks into the restoration of Bright Moon. She’s at the desk in their room, poring over the plans for the southern spire that Glimmer had asked them to take a look at. Underneath, Melog is dozing, curled around Adora’s legs. She reaches down to give them a quick scratch behind the ears.

Catra shrugs, with no intention of moving from her perch at the side of the desk, one leg tucked under her and the other dangling over the edge. “I mean, sometimes I guess?” Then she turns her gaze away from the papers to look at Adora more fully. “It was kind of a big moment, huh? For both Etheria and, well, us.” At that, a toothy grin spreads across her face and she shoves Adora’s shoulder playfully.

Catra’s growing her hair out. It’s shoulder-length now, long enough for her to tie back into a small ponytail. It’s almost unbearably cute, though Adora knows Catra will scoff and grumble and vehemently reject that sentiment if anyone were to point that out right now.

Adora smiles, and dares to hope again.

“It was,” she says, leaning up to press a kiss to Catra’s cheek.

iv.

_“A beautiful wish. But there will be no future. Not for you.”_

It’s not so bad, usually. For the most part, things are really, really good. But sometimes Horde Prime finds his way back into her dreams and Adora will gasp awake in the middle of the night, unshed tears prickling at the corners of her eyes.

Catra stirs, because she’s the lightest sleeper Adora knows. “Hey, what’s wrong?” she rasps, rapidly blinking sleep from her eyes. Her tail curves protectively against Adora’s waist, and she takes small comfort in the familiar action.

It takes her a moment to reorient herself. A deep breath, then two. In, out. In, out.

Catra waits, as patient with her troubles as Adora is with hers.

In lieu of a direct answer, she starts with: “I had a dream there, you know. Or, I guess it was more like a hallucination? When I passed out back at the Heart.”

Catra’s brow furrows. “What about?” she asks.

“I think,” Adora says carefully, “I saw the future. Or, well. _A_ future. One that… I wanted to be real. That I still want to be real. I’m kind of afraid that if I say it out loud, it won’t ever come true.” She lets out a little humourless laugh, at that. “Sometimes, I’m afraid it won’t come true, even if I never tell anyone about it. I’m afraid that Horde Prime will turn out to be right. In the dream, he said that I don’t have a future. I know it sounds ridiculous, but— ”

“Hey, Adora,” Catra interrupts softly, and Adora’s heart skips a beat at the gentle look on her face. It still catches her by surprise sometimes, the fact that Catra’s really here, that she’s here and she can look at Adora like _that_. “It’s not ridiculous. But it’s also not true. You made it out of the Heart alive. You’re alive, and you’ve got your whole life ahead of you. _We’ve_ got a whole life ahead of us.” She brushes a strand of Adora’s hair back, tucking it behind her ear.

“I don’t know if your vision will happen. No one can actually predict the future, yeah?” Catra says. Her eyes are wide, mismatched blue and gold, staring into Adora’s now with an intensity that makes her shiver. “But I know that if we stick together, we can get through anything. You and me. And… Glimmer and Bow,” she concedes, a grudging smirk tugging at her lips. “We’re gonna be okay.”

Adora gives a small, grateful smile in return, before closing her eyes and leaning into Catra’s open arms. “We’re gonna be okay,” she murmurs, and it’s not a question anymore.

She falls asleep to the rumble of Catra’s purr against her chest.

v.

This time, when the door slams open and Glimmer and Catra stumble into the room, giggling, there’s no sense of dread. Instead, as the two of the circle around Adora in their game of tag with a hairbrush, a slow warmth blooms in her chest.

She laughs when Catra jokingly pleads with her to save her from Glimmer’s clutches, and smiles when Glimmer loudly pronounces her insufferably overdramatic. The smile becomes a full-blown grin when Bow walks in, dressed to the nines in an outfit complementing Glimmer’s perfectly. He not-so-gently reminds them of Scorpia’s wrath, something that will surely descend upon them if they end up late to the ball.

As the four of them make to leave, Adora is suddenly seized by such an overwhelming feeling of fondness that she pauses, a few feet away from the door.

And Catra, just steps ahead of her, turns back to face her with a crooked grin. “You coming?” she says, extending a gloved hand.

And Adora takes a moment to drink in the sight.

Catra, looking radiant in her scarlet, open-collared shirt, her gold-trimmed dark pants, those gold-accented black boots. Catra, with Adora’s wing buckle pinned neatly and proudly at her waist. Catra, whose white-and-gold jacket, tossed rakishly over her shoulder, matches Adora’s dress perfectly. Catra, whose face is fully alight with mischief and joy and _love_.

Adora feels the inexplicable sensation of tears welling up.

Catra frowns when she notices her overbright eyes, tilting her head to the side curiously. “You okay, Adora?”

It’s a beautiful wish, what Adora’s always wanted.

Adora beams, blinking rapidly, before finally taking Catra’s outstretched hand. “I’ve never been better.”

**Author's Note:**

> just a small lil thing i've been thinking about and had a burst of inspiration to actually type out. my life has not known peace since this show has existed lol. special thanks to my pal maya for beta-reading this!
> 
> hope you enjoyed, and thank you for reading!


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